Naughty Politics -- On Both Sides

TAKING NAMES

October 14, 2004|By Scott Maxwell, Sentinel Columnist

In the past few weeks, Taking Names has been inundated with calls and e-mails from readers complaining about stolen campaign signs. And each time, I told readers this was nothing new; that sign-stealing was as much a part of campaign season as attack ads.

But then a trend emerged. Every single caller said the signs that had been stolen were for John Kerry.

There was Lewis Rothlein of Maitland, who said he dismissed his missing Kerry sign as a kids' prank -- until he went to the campaign headquarters, where workers "told me I was the fourth person to come in today with the same story, and someone else had his bumper sticker peeled off his car."

There was Elizabeth Bernbaum, who said her neighborhood has been hit repeatedly. "None of the Bush-Cheney signs are gone," she said. "This is really ticking me off."

And there were Bill and Carol Barnes of Orlando, who reported their Kerry signs were stolen -- twice -- asking: "Good grief, are the Bushies so afraid of a few signs??"

And there were many more.

Still, I wondered if maybe the liberals were just the whinier of the bunch.

So I called Orange County's Democratic Party leader Doug Head, who said emphatically: Yes, more Democrats' signs have been reported stolen than in

any election he could remember.

But wouldn't Republicans say the same thing? Nope. Orange County GOP leader Lew Oliver reported that Bush sign-stealing seemed about the same as in years past, though a Bush-Cheney staffer reported pockets of problems around Lake Ivanhoe and south Orlando.

Advice for sign-toting Dems: Use cement.

Still, political chicanery isn't one-sided. One of the top Democratic tricks this year appears to be skewing online polls.

How can you tell? Well, just ask Kathryn Campbell of Altamonte Springs, who was shocked to see a poll at Orlandosentinel.com in which 90 percent of those voting seemed to think Kerry won the second debate. Campbell wrote: "I was a bit taken back from these results considering Orlando is a moderately conservative town, but hey if those are the results then those are the results."

Well, they were the results, Kathryn. But they were intentionally skewed. You'd have trouble getting 90 percent of Central Floridians to agree that Satan is evil. (In fact, I have another reader e-mail taking issue with just that point. But that's another column.)

So, in trying to figure out what was up, Orlandosentinel.com editor Anthony Moor and other Internet pollsters stumbled onto some e-mails from the Democratic National Party that urged Dems to vote in online polls. Specifically, DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe cited 13 polls -- one of which was ours. That made for an unfair matchup: Local Bush supporters against Kerry-lovers from all over the nation.

So it's probably worth remembering a note Moor posted about the poll: "Editor's note: It is quite possible that these community forums will be affected by organized efforts to sway the vote or spin the discussion."

Truth be told, neither sign-stealing nor poll-fixing is limited to either party. But at least folks are paying attention.

A GOP HUG-FEST

Virtually every big-name Republican in town headed to Isleworth Country Club on Tuesday night to bask in the glow of Bush family matriarch, Barbara (left), who came to town to stump for U.S. Senate candidate Mel Martinez.

Perhaps the most interesting moment of the evening came after former U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum, who fought Martinez tooth and nail in the primary, gave the former Orange County chairman a warm introduction. Martinez then hugged him.

And not just a jock-like, show-me-some-love hug. A true embrace.

This was somewhat surreal, seeing as how, just a few weeks ago, Martinez had accused the man he was cuddling of kowtowing to the "radical homosexual lobby."

Nonetheless, Tuesday was a night for making things right -- well, and collecting about $300,000 worth of checks. And Martinez praised and thanked McCollum in front of his hometown crowd in a manner that seemed to make most of the Republicans happy.

Among the happy Republicans present was Attorney General Charlie Crist, who drove in from Tampa just so he could show his support.

You'd better believe that Crist wants Mel to win -- seeing as how that could mean one less formidable Republican eyeing the governor's mansion that Crist seems to have set his sights on in 2006.

WHATCHA WANNA KNOW?

In case you hadn't noticed, campaign season is in full swing. And Taking Names will be especially politics-heavy for the next three weeks. To that end, if you have questions, ask away. Whether you want to know which special interests are plying the U.S. Senate candidates' war chests with the most dough (women's-issues groups for Betty Castor and lawyers for Mel Martinez) or at which restaurant U.S. Rep. Ric Keller most likes to have his fries Biggie-sized (Wendy's), feel free to ask at smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com.